A quick question for Luke or Kevin

Is there any chance of our final marks being available on cecil before the exam?

Cheers

Remote-Controlled Human

Check out this link here, i find it quite disturbing actually that this is even possible..

Link

The end is nigh...

It's great to see people carrying on the conversations even after the assessment deadline: so the blog has been more than just a chore, then? Don't answer that - I know it's been hard work, but hopefully also enjoyable for some of the people some of the time.

This is just to let you know that the blog will be de-activated in the next 24 hours or so. Although it's quite an informal forum, it's still got an official status as part of a University of Auckland course, so it's been important for Kevin and myself to monitor it carefully throughout. But with the onslaught of marking and exams, we cannot continue to do this indefinitely...

I hope it isn't too much of a trauma for anyone who has become a blog junkie this semester (we know who you are!). So get in soon with any final pearls of wisdom or wit... and then go and set up your own blogs! This one will be archived online for posterity for as long as those tremendous human beings at Google see fit. Thanks for keeping me and Kevin busy and for making this blog a really interesting place to hang out this semester.

Best of luck to all with your exams.

Over and out...

Exam Summary

For those who missed out (ie. me), could somebody please summarize what was said about the exam in the last lec?

I've revised all my notes, but i'm just keen to know the format/structure of the exam.

Anyone?

light hearted read..

Did anyone see this piece in the sideswipe (NZ Herald) a few days ago, it made me laugh, I thought I might just post it up on here, despite the deadline having come and gone, purely for a bit of light hearted reading in your study break, or maybe to help you along with procrastinating instead of studying. Anyway have a read, and I sincerly hope that no-one from this course has EVER done this, or possibly would not having done this paper. Enjoy.
Following yesterday's ludicrous exchange between a help desk and a luddite, here's a transcript that resulted in the firing of the tech support person: Caller: I'm having trouble with WordPerfect. Operator: What sort of trouble? Caller: Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden the words went away. Operator: Hmm. So what does your screen look like now? Caller: It's blank; it won't accept anything when I type. Operator: Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out? Caller: How do I tell? Operator: Can you see the C: prompt on the screen? Caller: What's a sea-prompt? Operator: Never mind. Can you move your cursor round the screen? Caller: There isn't any cursor. I told you, it won't accept anything I type. Operator: Does your monitor have a power indicator? Caller: What's a monitor? Operator: It's the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV. Does it have a little light that tells you when it's on? Caller: I don't know. Operator: Well, then look on the back of the monitor and find where the power cord goes into it. Can you see that? Caller: Yes, I think so. Operator: Great. Follow the cord to the plug and tell me if it's plugged into the wall. Caller: Yes, it is. Operator: Follow the cable for me, and tell me if it's plugged securely into the back of your computer. Caller: I can't reach. Operator: Even if you maybe put your knee on something and lean way over? Caller: Oh, it's not because I don't have the right angle - it's because it's dark. Operator: Dark? Caller: Yes - the office light is off, and the only light I have is coming in from the window. Operator: Well, turn on the office light then. Caller: I can't. Operator: No? Why not? Caller: Because there's a power failure. Operator: A power ... A power failure? Aha, Okay, we've got it licked now. Do you still have the boxes and manuals and packing stuff your computer came in? Caller: Well, yes, I keep them in the closet. Operator: Good. Go get them, and unplug your system and pack it up just like it was when you got it. Then take it back to the store you bought it from. Caller: Really? Is it that bad? Operator: Yes, I'm afraid it is. Caller: Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell them? Operator: Tell them you're too bloody stupid to own a computer.

Broadband by balloon?!

In case someone still reads this blog I would like to forward this article. Maybe an option for New Zealand? Anyway, an exciting technology with good broadband speeds.

Broadband by balloon completes successful trial in Sweden

10/21/2005 3:30:24 PM, by Jeremy Reimer

A group of researchers in Sweden have completed a successful trial this week, launching a 12,000 cubic meter weather balloon at an altitude of 24 kilometers. The balloon transmitted a steady data link at a transmission speed of 11Mbps.

This test is the latest in a series of efforts to prove that transmitting broadband Internet via lighter-than-air craft is not only technically feasible but economically practical. Ultimately, the goal is to launch balloons that can transmit at speeds that are much higher. Dr. David Grace, the projects' lead scientific officer, explained:

Proving the ability to operate a high data rate link from a moving stratospheric balloon is a critical step in moving towards the longer term aim of providing data rates of 120Mbps.

The team that launched this balloon consists of 14 different partners worldwide, including the research wing of British Telecom. The radio link equipment was designed by engineers at the University of York in the UK. The effort is being partly funded by the European Union (EU).

Is there really a need for transmission of broadband Internet by a fleet of balloons? The idea conjures up visions of a retro-futuristic world, a kind of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, where giant swaths of airships plow the skies in pursuit of Gwenneth Paltrow. But the idea has some practical merit. Wired connections aren't always available, and if they are, they can often be limited by the bandwidth of existing telephone cables. While many high-speed fiber-optic cables were laid down in the heady days of the dot com boom, they still reach only a fraction of the people who might want to use them. Satellite transmission, while fast and available over a large geographic area, has other issues. Satellites are extremely expensive to launch, and suffer from latency issues due to the speed of light. Anyone who has ever placed a transatlantic call over a geosynchronous satellite will have experienced the frustrating lag that disrupts the flow of conversation and can wreak havoc with online gaming.

Stratospheric balloons, on the other hand, cost less than a tenth the amount for the launch and communication infrastructure compared to satellites. They suffer none of the latency problems associated with satellites. Also, one airship could conceivably support more than a thousand times as many users as a satellite. Alan Gobbi, the marketing manager of the York Electronic Centre explained some possible applications for the technology:

One business model could be an alternative to wired access in suburban areas where costs of roll out are high. It could be offered on high-speed trains and in remote areas.

The next trial of the technology is scheduled for Japan, sometime next year.

I live in the internet life

Just few hours before, my internet suddenly could not be connected for a few hour. Then I realised that how important the internet is in my life. In that few hours I just wonder around my room and got nothing to do... We know that internet is a important thing, but never though that it became a part of my life. I really felt so bored and empty for a moment! So I was starting at my computer screen and thinking what is I don't have a internet? There were so many things went through my head. Firstly I cannot post this on the blog; I can not check my emails about the time of a meeting; I cannot transfer the money to my boyfriend, so that he can pay our phone bill tonight; I cannot download the notes from the cecil to study and I will not able buy those pretty clothes online!! etc... Internet became another world that I live in. I have my internet friends and it's just like real life friends. They are divided in different social group, and I talk about different topics with different people. This network is amazing! I actually get to know lot of new information from the internet more than the really life I am living in. I realized, in the real life I ofen say that 'let me check on the internet'. I relay internet so much, but never realising it. I was actually thinking that what if one day the electricity is gone, computer can not be turn on and internet can not be used. How am I going to live? Most times I live in that imagined internet society, I think it's actually kind of scary that the technologies is slowly manipulating my life.